The Picnic
by Pineapple Queen1
Summary: Summary: James is persuaded by Sirius to ask Lily Evans out for a picnic. Pure fluff. Written before Order of the Phoenix.


Summary: James is persuaded by Sirius to ask Lily Evans out for a picnic. Pure fluff. Written before Order of the Phoenix.

_A/N- Please tell me how you like it. I would really like to know if it got just the teeniest bit cheesy near the end- I'm not sure how that turned out. Reviews will be greatly, greatly appreciated. _

_Disclaimer- All you recognize belongs to J.K. If you don't recognize it- hey, it's mine. _

**The Picnic**

"Aw, come on, Prongs, do it!" moaned Sirius Black.

"Please," added Remus Lupin, who was sitting with one foot hanging off the bed and a book in his hand. "You've been all jittery all day."

"Yeah, Prongs," continued Peter Pettigrew. "It's really rather distracting."

James Potter stopped from his nervous pacing to scowl at his friends. 

"I'll make a fool of myself!" he muttered, throwing his hands up into the air.

"So?" countered Sirius. James glared.

"Sirius has got a point, James," said Remus reasonably. "If she says no, then you're not losing anything."

James ran a hand through his messy hair distractedly. "But then she'll hate me forever!" 

Peter rolled his eyes.

Remus shot a slight look in Peter's general direction, and replied to James, "Come on, Prongs, Lily's a nice enough girl, she won't hate you."

"How do you know?" James scowled. "Of course she'll hate meÉ she'll turn her friends against meÉ she'll turn all the girls in Hogwarts against meÉ I'll be the only loser in the school whom all the girls hate"

He ran a hand through his hair again. 

"I need to be alone," he said, distraught. Then he stalked out of the dormitory door and presumably exited the common room.

"James Potter, Drama King Extraordinaire," mumbled Peter. 

Remus snorted and nodded his head in agreement.

Sirius had a mischievous, amused glint in his eyes.

"He _has _got it bad, hasn't he?"

~*~

Lily Evans was not a morning person. 

Bright green eyes, momentarily clouded with sleep, glared at Cassie Bentley as Cassie cheerily sat down to eat breakfast. She shook her untamed head of thick, a- little- past- her- waist dark red hair at her best friend, attempting to hit her in the face.

"Stop being cheerful," Lily ordered. Cassie just smirked. Cassie had grayish- blue eyes and frizzy honey- brown hair. Her nose was dotted with freckles that were (or so she thought) devilishly annoying. Hestia Jones, Lily's other best friend, sat down next to her and started eating. 

Breakfast at Hogwarts during the Easter break was an informal affair. Students arrived at about nine to sleepily slop food onto their plates and then drag themselves back to beds to either go to sleep or annoy their friends attempting to sleep.

"What's up for today?" Hestia asked boredly.

"I think there's a Hogsmeade trip," Cassie said. Lily immediately brightened up.

"Candy"

Both Cassie and Hestia rolled their eyes. 

"YeahÉ and we can just hang around the castle the rest of the day," Cassie finished.

"How stimulating," said Lily dryly.

Cassie shrugged.

There was a general commotion at the fifth-year side of the Gryffindor table as James Potter and his friends came down. The three girls quickly greeted the four and busily went back to consuming their food.

At the idea of 'hanging around the castle' for one more day, Lily's 'scowling mode' had returned.

"Oh, brighten up, Lily," grinned Hestia.

Lily scowled.

Cassie swallowed her remaining breakfast and chugged down her milk. 

"Ok. I'm done. Let's head back."

"Not everyone can eat three plates' worth of food in five minutes, Cassie," said Lily dryly. "Wait for us slow ones, will you?"

"I'll do you the favor this once," said Cassie with fake superiority. All three girls snorted.

"Come on," said Cassie ten minutes later. 

Lily scowled.

"Why do you want us to get finished with breakfast so quickly anyway? Can't wait to hang around the castle or something?"

"No," Hestia answered for her. "It's because it's common knowledge that you consider morning to be over right after you've had your breakfast. We want you to stop scowling."

Lily- need I say it?- scowled.

A few minutes later, as Hestia and Lily were finally finishing up, Sirius walked over to them.

"Hey," he said casually, then grinned over his shoulder. Lily saw James frantically poking Sirius and glaring at him. 'Shut up,' he mouthed.

"Yes?" asked Lily irritably. 

"James here wants to ask you something, Lily," said Sirius in a far- too- informative tone.

In the background, James could be seen banging his head on a chair.

Lily looked over at him. "Yes?"

Sirius gave James a supposed- to- be- but- not- really encouraging glance before bouncing back next to Remus and Peter, who eyed him doubtfully.

"Well" James started nervously.

"Spit it out, James," said Lily testily.

"Er"

"Mm?"

"Aargh!" James yelled in frustration. "Never mind. I will KILL Sirius."

Lily glared at his retreating back. "I hate it when people do that!"

This did not seem to comfort James. He did, however, stalk back to his friends and throw a halfhearted punch in the general direction of Sirius.

Lily at the last bite of breakfast grouchily. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it when people do that," she chanted. She swallowed, and immediately grinned. 

"So," she chirped. "When's the Hogsmeade trip start?" 

The other two girls rolled their eyes.

~*~

"Sirius, you blockhead!" James snapped as they made their way up to the common room after breakfast.

"What?" asked Sirius innocently as he sat down on one of the squashy vermilion chairs near the fire.

James plopped down on another one angrily. He leaned forward and (as Remus and Peter watched in amusement, and Sirius with some apprehension) hissed, "You stupid _mutt_, it's common knowledge to all of Hogwarts, _or at least Gryffindor_, that Lily Evans _hates the world_ in the morning! Or at least, it's common knowledge to everyone that isn't a _duncebucket!_"

He stressed the last word in a howl.

Sirius stared at James for a moment, seemingly searching for what to say. Finally, his face split into a grin. "Duncebucket?" he asked, beginning to chuckle. Behind him, Remus was grinning and Peter snorted.

"Shut up," grumbled James, trying hard to ignore the snickering of his friends.

"Snappy, Prongs," choked out Sirius before falling off his chair (which Remus immediately stole) and rolling on the floor with laughter. 

James just scowled and jumped up out of his chair. "Let's just go to Hogsmeade, ok?"

"Sure, Prongs," said Sirius. "We'll do whatever you say, as opposed to thinking for ourselves. After all, we are" 

Here he paused dramatically. 

"_duncebuckets_."

He was immediately convulsed with laughter again. James kicked him.

"What's this 'we' business?" Remus demanded. "James said _you_ were a "duncebucket", not _us_." He motioned to himself and Peter.

Sirius just stuck his tongue out at Remus and hopped up, laughing fit forgotten.

"Aw, come on, I didn't _mean_ to ruin that, Prongs," pleaded Sirius.

"Sure," scowled James (his uncannily resembling Lily's multiple ones throughout breakfast.)

"No, _really_," he said convincingly, and gave James puppy dog eyes.

James rolled his eyes. "Fine, Padfoot," he said. "But if you try anything like that again, I will slit your throat."

"I'd like to see you try," replied Sirius cheerfully. Then he slung his arm around James and the other around Remus and Peter. "On to Hogsmeade, then, good Marauders!"

~*~

"Let's go to Zonko's now!" Cassie suggested.

"But what about Honeydukes?" asked Lily.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "We can get that last. Come _on_," she urged.

With one last regretful look at the window full of sugar quills, Lily complied, following Cassie and Hestia.

The bell rang as the three girls stepped into the shop and looked around. "Did you restock on dungbombs?" Hestia asked the shop owner, who had his back turned to her, hopefully.

"Nope!" said a very familiar voice, and Sirius Black turned around, looking extremely stupid in an oversized Oxford shirt that had _Zonko's Joke Shop_ on the left pocket. 

Hestia jumped. "Sirius!" she snapped. "What are you doing behind the counter?"

Sirius looked at her as if she was quite daft. "Selling," he stated blankly. Then he added, "You duncebucket," and proceeded to burst into peals of laughter. 

James came out from the storeroom. "Shut up, you," he ordered.

Remus popped up from behind the counter and slapped Sirius on the back of the head. "Drop it."

Peter popped up on Remus's other side and said cheerfully, "How may I help you ladies today?"

"You can tell us when you got hired-" Lily started.

"What is going on here?" demanded a voice.

Peter winced. "Uh- oh."

A man that looked more like a shop owner than any of the Marauders entered through the door. Sirius turned to him cheerily, despite the protests of Peter and the pulling of his shirt by Remus. James, on the other hand was urging him on.

"How may I help you, sir?" asked Sirius.

"Who the hell are you?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I work here, sir."

"GET OUT!"

~*~

"Sirius, you complete idiot," moaned a very wet Cassie. "You are never supposed to make the owner of a _joke shop_, angry, for Merlin's sake!"

"I think the manager went too far with the magical water balloons," stated an equally wet Remus.

"Enchanting them to follow us was a bit overdoing it, yes," agreed James sarcastically, wringing out his robes.

"And of course," grumbled Lily (who was wringing out her hair), "you got _us_ involved."

"A pleasure, Lily darling." Sirius (who still had the soaked Zonko's shirt on) bowed.

"Shut up, Black," said Lily amiably as they all walked into Honeydukes and started browsing.

Lily immediately headed to the section where they kept the sugar quills, at the far back of the store. She was just picking out the best ones and adding them to her bag when someone came up behind her.

"Hi, James," she said absentmindedly, and began looking at prices.

"Hi," replied James. Then he just stood there.

Lily finished counting out her money and turned around to look somewhere else when she bumped into James.

"Oh, sorry," she grinned apologetically. "I thought you'd left."

He waved away her apology. "Well, actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh, what you wanted to ask me this morning? I'm sorry I was so snappy, but-"

"- you hate mornings, I know."

"Who doesn't?"

"Good point."

"Anyway, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Ah, well"

James fidgeted, and to Lily's utter surprise, his face turned red, something that _never_ happened with James Potter.

"Willyoucomeonapicnicwithme?" he mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Lily thought someone must have enchanted him to speak in Gobbledegook.

"Will you come on a picnic with me?" This time his words were coherent, if no louder.

"Oh! Um" Lily was surprised by his question, but even more surprised to realize that she was delighted he'd asked. She noticed him looking downcast, and realized that she must look reluctant. 

"I'd love to, James," she said, and smiled at him.

James felt as if he would collapse. Whether it was from relief that he had finally done it, delight in the fact that she had actually said yes, or her dazzling smile that very clearly reached her eyes, he wasn't sure. He smiled himself, and Lily noticed how it lit up his whole face.

"Yeah, well," he said. "Thanks."

"Yeah," she replied. "D'you want to have it tomorrow?"

"Oh- sure," he said, still grinning like an idiot. "Want to get some more candy?"

"I'd be delighted," was the exaggerated reply from Lily, and the two moved on to the Blood- Flavored lollipops. 

"Wonder how Sirius'd like one of those"

~*~

Lily stood in front of the full- length mirror in her dorm, checking to make sure she looked okay as she braided her hair.

She had chosen Muggle clothing, and was wearing a pair of straight- leg jeans. Her peasant top was a very pretty shade of soft, silky- ish crimson material, and it was covered with a sheer layer of crimson cloth, with bell sleeves that fluttered rather nicely. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, and a few pieces of fine hair not long enough to be pulled back framed her face. She wore no makeup.

Lily glanced into the mirror again and brushed the hair around her face nervously, then mentally slapped herself.

_'What am I so worked up over? This is just a friendly picnic with one of my friends.'_

Convincing herself that this was very casual was not working. She straightened her braid just as Hestia walked in. 

"Where are you going?" she asked, doing a double take.

"On a picnic," Lily replied distractedly. "Do I look okay?"

"Great," Hestia assured her. "With James?"  
  


"How did you know?" asked Lily in astonishment.

Hestia smiled. "Well, for one thing, James has not been able to stop staring at you all day-"

"Really?" asked Lily, and she felt her face turn red, and then she surprised herself again by feeling strangely pleased at the fact that James couldn't keep his eyes off her.

Hestia nodded her head in affirmation. "-and also, you've been quite distracted since Hogsmeade yesterday. And if I remember correctly, you and James were browsing together in Honeydukes?" She looked at Lily questioningly.

Lily sat down on the bed next to Hestia. "MmmÉ yes, he asked me when I was looking at sugar quills," she confessed.

"Ah." Hestia smiled again, and this time it was an encouraging sort of smile. Hestia always knew what to say or do when someone just wanted to talk about something serious. "How romantic. Well, go on, then," she said, giving Lily a little nudge off the bed.

Lily sighed and jumped up, looked at herself in the mirror again, and headed outside.

~*~

James was already sitting by the lake, looking not a little nervous. As he saw Lily exit the castle and scan the grounds, he stood up and waved a little, signaling for her to come over. She complied.

As she sat on the picnic cloth that covered the grass in front of an oak tree, with the lake on one side, she looked in awe at the setup.

The weather could not have been more beautiful. The sky was as blue as a sky could get, and a wild Scottish wind whistled through the leaves of the oak behind them and played with the lake right beside them. The grass was at the height of greenness because of the spring weather, and bent as the wind blew it.

The picnic cloth that covered the ground was ornamented in the middle with a huge picnic basket, which was apparently filled with sandwiches. There were four bottles of butterbeer on the cloth, and bowls and plates full of food. Among them were strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, three different kinds of pie, cheesecake, chocolate cake, and a variety of other foods that she and James could not possible eat alone. 

"James!" she exclaimed. "How did you get all this food?"

"Oh" James fumbled. "Old Marauder trick."

Lily's mind clicked. "You mean you got in from the kitchens."

James grinned a little ruefully. "Well, yeah."

"Never knew you boys had it in you."

James just grinned again, surprised on how easy the conversation was going. He opened the picnic basket.

"Shall we?"

Lily took a plate and popped a strawberry into her mouth. "We shall."

~*~

"Éand that's how I became friends with Sirius."

Lily laughed. "Because you got caught playing pranks together when you were three in the middle of a _Ministry building?_ That's priceless!" 

She doubled over laughing again. "How did you meet Remus and Peter?" 

"Sirius and I met Remus in Diagon Alley, when he was fighting with Snape and Malfoy, and we joined in." James chuckled. "Let me tell you now, Remus Lupin is definitely someone you'd want on your side in a fight."

"And Peter?" she pressed.

"Oh, that was Sirius's fault," said James teasingly.

"James!" Lily reproached, though she chuckled. "That's cruel!"

"I was just _kidding_," he defended. "But Sirius's stupid owl hyperventilated right before the Express left. Hit Peter in the head, poor bloke."

"So you met one of your best friends because you got in trouble together, the other because you were in a fight, and the other because Sirius's owl tried to murder him?"

"Sounds about right."

"And it fits you perfectly!"

"Was that an insult?"

"You'll have to figure _that_ out for yourself," said Lily teasingly, as she drank the last sip of butterbeer.

"Sorry that's all we have," James apologized, "but Sirius stole the butterbeer after I bought it from Hogsmeade. He's probably drunk off it now, considering the amount he took."

"He must have taken a lot, then," said Lily laughingly, "because butterbeer has a very low alcohol content. But how did you get it in the first place?"

"Hogsmeade," he said promptly. 

Lily raised her eyebrows. "How?"

"Er"

"Aw, come on!" Lily pleaded. "I won't tell!"

"Okay" said James, surprised that he was agreeing, but completely comfortable with it nonetheless. "Sirius, Remus, Pete, and I found a passage to Hogsmeade from the castle. We sneak down there a lot."

"How on Earth do you sneak there without getting caught?"

"UmmÉ well, I kind of own an invisibility cloak"

Lily stared at him with her mouth open. "You definitely need to show this to me!" she exclaimed in surprise. "If you don't mind, that is," she added quickly.

"As long as you don't tell, no," James answered casually, stretching out on the grass. 

"I won't," she promised. 

James looked at her, and in the manner of a person who was infatuated with something, distractedly popped an unusually large and firm blueberry into his mouth and promptly choked. 

After Lily hitting him on the back, hard, a couple of times, James recovered and ruefully smiled. 

"That wasn't smart."

"No," replied Lily, semi- sarcastically, "no, I wouldn't call trying to kill yourself particularly smart."

"Was that an insult?" James said for the second time.

"You'll have to figure _that_ out yourself," grinned Lily.

"You're really pretty, Lily," said James without thinking. He immediately mentally slapped himself and turned a rather Gryffindor- esque shade of red.

Lily was surprised (for the second time in two days) to find herself uncommonly pleased that he said that. She blushed. "Um"

James laughed. "You need to learn how to accept a compliment."

"Okay," she grinned. "Fine. Thank you."

"There," he smiled. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Let's try it again," laughed Lily. "You're an excellent Chaser."

"You're a fabulous Seeker," he returned. When she glared at him, he defended himself.

"You can accept a compliment with another one!"

"Fine. UmÉ you're a really great friend."

"And you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

"Hey! It doesn't count unless you're sincere!" Lily protested.

James leaned over, and spoke in a softer voice. "Who says I wasn't being sincere?"

Lily's heart was beating so loud that she was sure Hagrid could hear it on the other side of the lake, and her stomach was twisting like anything. Though those Hufflepuffs in her Divination class may be feather- brained and giggly, they were right about one thing- James Potter, Quidditch King Extraordinaire, was just about as charming as everyone said he was.

She didn't have time to point this out, though, before he had leaned over even more. 

And James and Lily's lips touched. 

He was a little surprised. Lily kissed tentatively, shyly, as if almost afraid she wasn't doing it right, but determined nonetheless, as if she really wanted to. James found that he didn't want to break the soft kiss. He wrapped his arms around her neck as they sat in the grass next to each other, and she did the same. He felt her tongue lightly trace his top lip, and he held her even closer.

They both heard a soft _click_ sound, unmistakably a camera, and they were tugged from their embrace abruptly. The two looked around frantically, but saw no one.

"Look" Lily pointed to the grass. Distinctly feet- sized patches of grass were being crushed, making a path back to the castle, and they heard the sound of someone running.

"Stupid drunk dog," growled James, sounding disturbingly like one. 

"He stole the invisibility cloak," Lily groaned.

They sat there for a moment, thoroughly embarrassed and despondent.

"Should we go after him?" James asked halfheartedly after a moment. He looked at Lily, and as brown eyes met green, he thought he had never seen anything more beautiful. Loose, fine strands of dark red hair framed her face unintentionally perfectly. The rest of her long auburn hair was drawn back into a waist- length braid that was slightly draped over her shoulder. Her face was happier than he'd ever seen a face to be, and her green eyes sparkled. 

As he stared at her, she also stared at him, and was thinking that she had never felt like this before. His gold- flecked brown eyes were shining bright with happiness, and his messy raven- black hair was - oh, she didn't know!- just _wonderful_, no matter that it looked like James had never touched a brush. 

"Should we go after him?" James asked again.

Lily cocked her head sideways. A mischievous smile appeared on her face, and James felt himself melt. "No," she whispered, and their lips met again.

Somewhere in the distance, the wind blew, and a slightly inebriated Sirius Black snapped another picture. The couple heard the flashes of film in their subconcience, but it registered with neither of them.

The height of April was perhaps one of the most beautiful times of the year in Scotland. A majestic stone castle rose up from the grass of the Scottish highlands, and the soft wind blew at the flags posted from the turrets. The beautiful, clear water lake's banks lapped up at the grass. Somewhere in the middle of the lake, a giant squid lazily waved one of its tentacles above the water, letting it bath in the wind and sun. A round, thatched hut stood on one side of the lake, surrounded by a pumpkin garden and an assortion of odd creatures. On the other side of the lake was an old, wise oak tree, and its ancient branches and leaves offered shade during sunny days. Birds soared oveCassied, their wings silhouetted against the sky as they circled the lake. A mountain rose out of the hills, and the wind blew against the impermeable rock, singing as it hit the stone and bounced back. A gravel and mud path led to a village half a mile away, surrounded by grass and wildflowers.

And on that breezy day next to a lake, in front of a tree, near a Scottish mountainside, Lily Evans and James Potter fell in love.


End file.
